77-Mile Loop Through the Badlands

We were up early this morning, as we were trying to fit three days of activities into two because the Badlands National Park (actually Aramark, the company that is contracted to run the campground) cancelled our reservation. So hang onto your hats, we're traveling fast today on this 77-mile loop through the Badlands. We started with a 4-mile drive to the trailhead of the Saddle Pass Trail. It's just a quarter-mile hike, so it won't take long to check this stop off our list. But we didn't remember that this trail was rated as strenuous and steep. It was tough climbing, but we soon could see the tops of the badlands formations around us. We took this picture, and if you look exactly in the center you will see something else that made this hike slower.

That tiny dot in the center of the picture above (that is very hard to see) was a bighorn sheep. Just like you probably missed it, we would have too. But a couple hikers ahead of us were taking pictures of him, and alerted us to this early morning wildlife sighting.

We continued taking pictures of the bighorn sheep . . . and pictures of Denisa taking pictures of the bighorn sheep . . .

and more pictures of the bighorn sheep when he finally stood up . . .

and more pictures of Mark scrambling up to the highest spot to take more pictures of the bighorn sheep . . .

and more pictures of the bighorn sheep bowing . . .

and more pictures of the bighorn sheep back where we started. You might notice that he is the same color as the sandstone rock formations, so these animals blend in well with their habitat. It's a rare treat to spot one, so we obviously took too many pictures of this guy.

The whole time that we were scrambling up the VERY steep Saddle Pass Trail, Denisa was worried about how she was ever going to get back down. The trail was made of tiny rolling rocks that were hard to hike up, and they provided no traction for going down safely. So she decided that she would rather get to the top of Saddle Pass, and then continue down the less-steep trail on the other side to get to the grassy prairie below. So that's exactly what she did. The only problem is that puts her on the wrong side of the hill from where the pickup is parked. Denisa is in the picture below, but she's so tiny compared to the landscape that she's hard to spot.

This time Mark zoomed in to see Denisa walking away. She will have to hike another 2.3 miles on the Castle Trail to get back to the road, but at least she won't have to go down that awful, steep Saddle Pass Trail.

On the other hand, Mark continued even higher up the Saddle Pass, until he was just a blurry red dot on the very top.

From there he could take yet another picture of the bighorn sheep from a different angle.

Then Mark slid and skidded down that steep trail to where our pickup was waiting in the parking lot below. Even sure-footed Mark had trouble getting down. He fell twice, scraped up his hand, and landed hard on his tail another time. Every time he tried to stand up, the ground would slip out from under him. Denisa obviously had no business going down this trail.

Meanwhile, back on the Castle Trail, Denisa is walking down the lonely, but flat trail. 

Mark drove the pickup to the castle parking lot, and got there about the time Denisa showed up at the castle. Check two more hikes off our list, but that was an unexpectedly long hike this morning.

At the parking lot, Denisa had to stop and enjoy the swallows that were darting in and out of the shaded information kiosk.

The parents were coming in and out of the nests, feeding the babies this morning. Then they zipped out of the opening in the mud nest to hunt more bugs.

Our next hike was a quick loop on the Fossil Exhibit Trail. A boardwalk takes visitors around a loop that includes bronzed fossil replicas of now-extinct creatures that once roamed the area.

Fossils are everywhere at Badlands National Park, and visitors are encouraged to be temporary paleontologist. If a fossil is spotted, visitors should take a picture, note the exact location, leave the fossil in its original location, and fill out a report at the fossil office at the visitor center. That's how this huge jaw bone was found that is now on display at the park.

We watched as an intern used a fine air drill to remove the dirt from a large fossilized turtle. It's a slow process, and she had only removed a square inch of dirt from the fossil in her work all day.

We continued our drive through Badlands National Park, stopping at more of the view points and snapping more pictures. As it got later, the traffic definitely got heavier. At the Pinnacle Overlook there were two big tour buses, and every parking space in the large lot was full. We had to move deeper into the landscape to get a picture without the thronging crowds in it.

At the Yellow Mounds Overlook we saw the most unusually colored sandstone formations in the entire park.

So of course we had to hike to them and see them up close. You might notice that Mark hikes on them . .  .

while Denisa is happy to hike beside them. She has learned her lesson today about hiking up on these slippery rocks.

It's a 22-mile drive through Badlands National Park, and we went all the way to the north entrance. Standing in the pasture right outside of the park, were several bison welcoming visitors to the Badlands.

Our reason to take this exit was to check out a possible RV camping spot, since we need to find a place for tomorrow night. Mark had read about an open field where RVs are allowed to park for free just outside the national park. We saw around thirty RVs parked along this ridge and scattered in the pasture. But the half-mile dirt road was really bumpy in our four-wheel-drive pickup. We weren't interested in taking our motor home through that, even though some people obviously did. With rain in the forecast, that road and the pasture would get even worse.

We returned back to Badlands National Park, to drive the most westerly seven miles of gravel road that few people see. We were enjoying wandering through more of God's wonders here in Badlands National Park. No tour buses on this tip of the park, and we were told that the bison and other wild animals were more often seen in this less-traveled stretch of road.

We did see the bison herd, but the pictures were blurry because they were so far away.

Another ten-mile drive brought us to the town of Wall, South Dakota. Situated on I-90, this little store calls itself the Gateway to the Badlands. While it started as a drug store, it has grown into an indoor mall of stores that covers an entire city block.

In 1936, the store was struggling to make a profit, even though thousands of potential customers drove right outside their front door every day. But those cars on the interstate never stopped. So the owners of the drug store started placing signs along the highway, offering free ice water to travelers. Ever since, tourists have been stopping here, and the drug store has turned into a major roadside attraction. Of course, we had to get our (very small) free glass of ice water.

But we also had to get a picture on the jackalope in the backyard playground.

The whole place is filled with photo opportunities and souvenirs that tempt the ice-water-guzzling tourists. Their signs along the highway made us hungry for a piece of homemade pie with homemade ice cream. But when we found that one piece was over $10, we opted for the ice water instead.

Seven miles southeast of the town of Wall on I-90, we exited to see the Delta 09 Minuteman Missile National Historic Site. From 1963 to 1991, this was the home of an armed 1.2-megaton nuclear missile aimed at Russia. (That's 66 times more powerful than the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima, Japan at the end of World War II.) The cement lid was replaced with a glass top so visitors could look down and see the now un-armed missile.

Looking down the glass-topped tube, this is what we could see.

While this site doesn't have a visitor center, visitors can dial a phone number to listen to a ten-part audio description of what they are seeing. There was also an information board that described the accuracy of these missiles This missile could leave this hole in the ground in South Dakota and hit a target in Russia within thirty minutes after the president pushed the magic button.

A drawing diagrammed more of the underground missile launch tube. At one time there were 1,000 of these minuteman missiles spaced over the plains of the Midwest. We drove 15 miles further down I-90 to visit the Minuteman Missile National Historic Visitor Center to learn even more about the program. There are actually three different historical missile locations along Interstate 90: the Minuteman 09 that we just visited, the Visitor center 15 miles away, and the Minuteman Launch Control Facility that is in between. Tours are available to visit the launch facility, but we found that we should have made a reservation for that about 90 days in advance. Instead, we spent a couple hours at the visitor center, watching the film and going to a virtual tour program. We had very interesting history lessons today!

It was another eleven-mile drive off the interstate to return to Badlands National Park and our final hike. When we visited the ranger station yesterday, we got a "Hiking in the Park" brochure with eight different hikes highlighted. 

We just had to stop today to do our eighth and last hike--the Cliff Shelf. This loop trail climbs stairs and takes visitors right under "the notch," which was the first trail we took the day before.

We were glad to look up to see a couple hikers peeking through the notch high above us. It feels like this 77-mile loop through the Badlands has come full circle!

We stopped in at the visitor center to return the complaint form that we were asked to complete about the campground fiasco. It's been a fast trip through the Badlands, but we made good use of our two days. 

Badlands National Park -- they cancelled our campground reservations!

Before we blog about our time at Badlands National Park, we have to rant. Several months ago we made reservations at the national park's Cedar Pass campground for an electric site for three nights. That determined our traveling days and how our other reservations wove together. But five days before we were supposed to arrive, we got a phone call from the company that runs the campground (Aramark) that said our electric site reservation had been cancelled. What?!? We checked the weather forecast to see that high temperatures during our stay would be in the upper 80s and into the 90s. We know from experience that those high temperatures outside will mean that we will be over 100 degrees inside our dark-colored motor home. We really needed electricity for some air-conditioning! A phone call to the reservation line gave no information, but the operator guessed that it was a safety issue because "Aramark's first concern is their customer's safety." That was a blatant lie, as two days later (after being on hold for forty minutes) we found that they had just over-booked the camp sites, and they were having too many people show up. I'm guessing that it's pretty ugly at a campsite when too many people with reservations show up for too few camping sites. Several phone calls and an email with no reply brought no relief. Aramark did nothing and just ignored the fact that they were ruining people's vacations. 

We were scrambling for another option, and managed to get a two-night reservation at a private campground outside the national park. It was the last space they had available, and it was much more expensive than the national park campground, but at least we have electricity. We're not sure where we will stay for that third night that was cancelled, because it's on a busy weekend. This is the first time in more than eight years that we had a reservation cancelled, and we're certainly not a fan of Aramark right now.

Okay, enough of that rant! We got settled into our campground by noon, and started exploring Badlands National Park after we fixed lunch. We see rain in the forecast, so we took advantage of the dry weather on the day we arrived. After a stop at the ranger station for advice, we had a list of hiking trails and we're ready to go.

The best hike in the park is the Notch Trail,  But it is rated as moderate to strenuous, and isn't recommended for anyone with a fear of heights. The strenuous part is the long hanging ladder that hikers must climb to get to the higher ridge.

Then the hike continues along the edge of the tall ridge. Even though it allows for great views, this is the part that would cause a fear of heights.

Looking down from that ridge, we can see that the ladder often gets clogged with people trying to come up, and others wanting to come down. Because some of those people are very slow, the problem is compounded.

We enjoyed our first views of the many sandstone formations that look like God has been building sand castles in South Dakota. We have wandered into another of God's wonders!

After about three-quarters of a mile, we got to the "notch" that gives this hike its name. We were hiking right behind a group of seven college-aged guys, and they offered to take our picture in the notch right after we took a group picture for them.

The notch opening gives a dramatic view of the White River Valley far below.

Most people will turn around and go back the way they came on a hike. But what fun is that? The seven guys all dispersed in different directions, checking out the different canyons and crevices here on the ridge. The Badlands is a "hike anywhere you want" park. So while they have trails, visitors are welcome to explore anywhere they want. 

This might become Mark's favorite national park ever, because he loves scrambling up rocks! We found lots of neat formations, and a couple more notches with steep drop-offs to the valley below.

We decided that this should be "The Notches Trail" instead of just "The Notch." We scrambled and took more pictures at other notched openings in the sandstone wall.

The ranger did mention that people can climb any where they want . . . BUT they have to be able to get themselves down. Mark is experienced at getting Denisa down from these climbs. A couple of the seven guys that we met earlier came to explore our second notch with us.

While the Badlands are pretty barren of color, we did find our first bloom in this national park.

We were still scrambling on the ridge, when several of the other college guys came out of this crevice, looking a little pale. While coming down this narrow and steep space, they were surprised by a snake. Their hearts were beating as they made a fast exit. When they mentioned "snake" most people would turn the opposite direction. Not Mark--he headed straight up that same path to get a look for himself.

This was the snake that surprised them.

It was an ugly rattlesnake, with those slit eyes and thick head. Mark was busy taking pictures while Denisa chose to watch from afar.

It's warm today, and we weren't surprised to see that snakes were out. That was enough rock scrambling for Denisa, as we walked back down the ridge.

Then it was time to head down that swinging ladder. Denisa will say that the climb down is definitely harder and seems higher that the climb up.

It's a long trip to the bottom, and those ladder rungs seem a long ways apart when you're going down. It's only attached at the top, so there's a lot of swing in this swinging ladder. But we both made it safely down. That's two miles of hiking finished, and we checked off our first Badlands hike.

The next hike leaves from the same parking lot, and is just a half-mile long. The Window Trail is an easy flat trail that ends at a rail for a viewpoint into an intricately eroded canyon. You can see Denisa at the left edge of the picture below, standing at the rail like the other normal people.

You can see Mark, standing high above the rail on an unprotected ridge taking that picture. He's not like any normal person, but he likes this kind of hiking!

Check off the second hike from our list, as Denisa took a picture of a meadowlark singing near the parking lot.

The third hike of the afternoon is "The Door Trail" that begins through a "door" in the badlands wall. After going through the door, visitors are warned to travel at their own risk because there are many steep drop offs. You can meander aimlessly, or you can follow the numbered posts that stick out from this lunar landscape.

This is one of those steep drop offs that visitors are warned about. But Mark seems to relish putting the toe of his hiking boot on the edge.

Sometimes it is hard to know when you're finished with a meandering trail, but this one has a sign that lets you know the trail has ended. It's time to go back through the door and check hike number three off that list.

Temperatures have hovered in the 80s this afternoon, so we are hot and getting tired. So how do we feel about starting the longest hike of the day now? We must feel fine, because here's a picture of Mark on the four-mile Medicine Root Loop.

We spent most of the hike walking through tall grass, with the Badlands' interesting formations in the distance. But we had flowers in this grassy prairie, so Denisa had something to photograph.

We've never seen this unusual flower before, and we're still not sure what it is.

The sun was getting low in the sky behind us as we finished up this four-mile loop. Check off hike number four for the afternoon. 

All total, we hiked eight miles on four different trails, and we didn't even arrive in the national park until around 2:00. We even went to the 9:00 p.m. ranger program at the amphitheater this evening. Since our stay here got shortened by a day when they cancelled our reservation, we had to hit the ground hiking!